On a particularly rainy day for summer I decided to sit down and replay some old Commodore 64 text adventures. After finishing one of my favorites (The Lost World) I searched through itch.io for something contemporary and found some contenders; but it was the amazing pixel-art cover and title of The Zen of Kayaking that grabbed my attention, and with that discovery I set off on an amazing journey in my trusty red kayak.
I spent about 12 hours over the course of a week completing this journey, often progressing well until a seemingly impassible block sent me paddling cautiously back and forth, turning over every rock and probing the limits of items and puzzles only to step back for a time until some away-from-screen brain noodling resulted in an Eureka! moment that sent me scrambling back to the game.
Each puzzle has been well thought out, as has their solutions. One specific puzzle early on had me questioning my reading comprehension skills; but I managed to maintain an aura of Zen, solve it, and move sheepishly onward.
The writing is quite beautiful; the descriptions paint each scene vividly, and set a lighthearted adventure tone as the journey unfolds. And what a journey! To say more would be spoilers, but know that if you play this game you’ll experience quite a day!
When my own journey came to an end I had scored 118 out of 122, managed to not use the hint guide, and had amassed such a collection of inventory items my brain is still trying to come up with usage ideas for another play through that might net me the missing points.
If you love playing text adventures, or are even new to them, be sure to pick up this game, you won’t regret it!